RLA Pastor's blog

It was midnight in the dungeon. That’s where we find Paul and Silas in Acts 16. Their ministry efforts in Philippi landed them in jail. Supposing the charges made were true, the Roman authorities ordered Paul and Silas to be severely beaten. The command was then given to the jailor to fasten their feet in the stocks.

There God’s two missionaries sat at midnight in a dark, damp dungeon. Beaten. Bloody. Cold. Uncomfortable.

Sitting outside the prison door the jailor was used to hearing the groans and curses of those confined. What he heard that night totally surprised him. He heard singing and praying. Someone was having church in the prison at midnight. The jailor did not yet know about the God who gives songs in the night (Job 35:10). Before the night was over, he would learn.

Still suffering from the beating, Paul and Silas were not about to let Satan steal their joy and silence their song. So they began singing praises to the Lord. It’s possible the words didn’t come easy at first, but they pressed on. The farther they went the louder they sang, and the louder they sang the happier they became until the entire jail was filled with the sound of praises. “And the prisoners were listening to them” (Acts 16:25).

The Bible goes on to tell of the miraculous earthquake and the conversion of the jailor and his family. But the thing that captured my attention today was the singing.

How easy it is to let the enemy silence your song when you are sitting in some dungeon at midnight. We can be hit with a case of spiritual amnesia at those times. For the life of us, we cannot remember past victories and eternal promises. The fact that God has always been faithful completely slips our minds as we sink into the pit of despair.

How did Paul and Silas get out of prison that night? They sang their way out. We need faith that sings in the night and keeps on singing of the greatness of our God.

“Name above all namesWorthy of our praiseMy heart will singHow great is our God”

Faith that sings will not only lift you out of the dungeon of despair, but will serve as a persuasive testimony to others. No matter what comes your way, keep on believing and keep on singing.​Pastor Todd Weston